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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Our son turned 5 a couple of weeks ago and he wanted "another" construction birthday party.

For his third birthday I went all out, full-on Pinterest worthy, you can check it out here. There were printables (the bane of my existence as a mom), a construction striped cake that took 3 days to bake, assemble and decorate, mason jar sippers, favors, and a theme-specific art project.

This year, 4.5 weeks after he birth of baby #4, I was suuuuuuper laid back. Evites over paper invites. No balloons, no printables. We did end up baking the cake from scratch, but nothing special inside, and I "decorated" it with some toys I found in the play room...

I just now realized I forgot to wash them before putting them on the cake... At least no one got sick!

So, those are the very few pictures I managed to capture. Plus a pic of all 6 of us. It was from mother's day, but let's pretend I took a picture at the party. Except I couldn't because our 6.5 year old was at a friend's birthday, "not a preschool/baby party".

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Yep, whatever it is. Whether watching TV or reading a book to your kid, it's enough. Since it's Mother's Day I've been thinking about all that ridiculous mommy guilt and the comparing and competing we (the mommies) engage in. So I'm deciding to end it all and declare that whatever I am doing, it is enough.

So on Friday when I took the 4 week old in the car, then left him in said car with the nanny so I could attend my 2 year old's tea party at preschool, that was enough. Because I wanted baby #3 to have my undivided attention for the entire 22 minutes that I was in her classroom, sitting at a table with a name card she made (a handprint flower, awww), and we sipped lukewarm chamomile tea and ate cheddar cheese finger sandwiches. At a table for two, "we are all alone at our table". That's what my little princess told me, something that rarely happens in a family with 4 kids. We sipped tea and ate and talked and placed our napkins on our laps. Then she refolded her napkin multiple times, pointed ot her favorite things in the classroom, and we talked our "her baby" and how he was all hers and what she would teach him when he was big enough for preschool.

Miraculously the newborn slept the entire time so when I came out he was just waking up and I nursed him in the car before heading home.

And sometimes (or a lot of times), I let my almost-5 year old watch TV shows or play educational computer games because that will entertain him and keep him quiet. My 2 year old knows how to turn on her own Kindle Fire and watch Frozen or Umi Zoomi or "the funny one". My 6 year old gets read to each day and her homework is done each week, but somedays she goes to school in the same clothes as the day before because I don't want to fight with her over clothes one more day.

But this year, 2014, is the year that it is all enough. I am enough. They are getting enough. Because the most important "thing" is love, and with parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles each one of them is getting more than enough love.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, grandmothers, and mothers-in-waiting.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Before telling people you are pregnant, you might need to "hide" until you get the all clear. For my first this was at 16 weeks, when I still had a waist (I know!) and had gained very little. For the ones after that it was a joke that I was telling people at 12 weeks, since I'd been in maternity pants since week 8 or 9. Sometimes your body just remembers and springs back into action (or inaction as the case may be with my abdominal wall).

Step 1: Avoid people

Step 2: When asked why you aren't drinking you can
a) claim a newfound abstinence
b) tell people you are super sick and not drinking (but they why did you hug them when you walked in?)
c) tell them you are on antibiotics- which is the same as telling them you are pregnant
d) tell them that you are still hungover from last night- which is often believable but people will question later when they do the math and always wonder if *that* is why little Madison isn't potty trained.

Step 3: Avoid your family. They can tell something is up, avoid them.

Step 4: Find a nice place to puke.
At work, at home, in the car, on the commuter bus, the nice garbage can outside the subway stop, a storm drain, a fancy restaurant in Vegas... I've puked in every last one. My best advice is to make it comfortable if you are at home, and to find an office bathroom that doesn't need a key or code to get in with. I speak from experience.

Step 5: Avoid your friends.

Step 6: Hide behind your kids, gift bags, giant purses etc.

Step 7: Be seen eating in public as a plausible means to explain your new paunch.

Step 8: Finally tell everyone, and act surprised and disappointed that they all guessed weeks ago!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

In keeping with my trend of publishing posts related to pregnancy after mine is over, here is my go-to list of things that might help you. I am an expert since with my 2 girls I threw up every day for the entire time, and with the boys every day for the first 20 weeks or so.

In my case, I've tried everything and for the girl pregnancies, nothing works. I just puke everyday all the way until the end.

Favorite place-to-puke story:

Driving at 7 months pregnant with my first to a wedding shower an hour away. On the freeway I start to throw up in my mouth, pull the gift from the bag, and throw up in the gift bag while driving at 65mph. Fun times.
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About

I'm a Harvard-trained architect, now staying at home with 4 young children. I designed and built my dream house, then did it all again with a modern vacation house. I'm putting my passion for design, food and family to work. I built the dream, but I still live in reality.